


Do You Believe in Soulmates?

by AWriting



Series: My Soulmates [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Captain America: The Winter Soldier Compliant, Character Development, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Sharon Carter/Brock Rumlow mentioned, Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers mentioned, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 15:23:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3901249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AWriting/pseuds/AWriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Do you believe in soulmates, Sharon?" Natasha asked casually, dropping an ice cube into her cup.<br/>"No," Sharon responded immediately, even as she stared at the words messily scrawled across her palm.</p><p>Your soulmate's first words to you are written on your skin AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do You Believe in Soulmates?

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Soulmate Shorts AKA The Crackship Armada](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2658407) by [ozhawk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozhawk/pseuds/ozhawk). 



> Help! Ozhawk's Soulmate Shorts are taking over my brain.  
> I couldn't get this out of my head, so I wrote it.  
> This is inspired by Ozhawk, but not directly related to any of those stories.  
> Not beta'd and only minimally edited by me.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

"Do you believe in soulmates, Sharon?" Natasha asked casually, dropping an ice cube into her cup.

"No," Sharon responded immediately, even as she stared at the words messily scrawled across her palm. "Soulmates are just the universe's way of boxing us in. Using fate to take away our free will."

Maria smirked and filled up the three glasses sitting in front of them again with whiskey Pepper had let her swipe from Stark's personal stash, before saying, "Love is for children, right, Natasha?"

“You said it this time, Hill. Not me.” The corner of Natasha's mouth turned up slightly and she raised her glass in salute before downing it in one gulp. The sun had just gone down and Stark Tower—or Avengers Tower, or whatever it was called—was unusually quiet as they lounged in the large communal living room.

"I don't know," Maria said, sitting back and watching the amber liquid as it sloshed back and forth in her cup. "I would've said the same thing not too long ago. But meeting Pepper... It really changed things."

Sharon smiled lightly at her. Finding her soulmate had turned Maria into such an optimist. She was happy for her friend, but it also kind of made Sharon want to puke. But that seemed to happen to everyone. Meet your soulmate and suddenly the world was nothing but sunshine and rainbows.

She copied Natasha's earlier actions and downed her whiskey in one gulp, pushing the cup towards Maria for a refill before saying, "I've just seen too many people drop everything because they met their soulmate. Completely changing what they had planned for their lives at the drop of a hat." She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and leaned back against the couch. "I mean, Pepper’s great, but what would you have done if you'd met before SHIELD fell? If one of you didn't give up your jobs, you would've never seen each other. And neither of you would’ve wanted to ask the other to do that."

Maria shrugged. "I don't know what we would've done. I guess we’re lucky that we didn't have to find out."

"It is kind of scary how fast people's priorities change when they meet their soulmate," Natasha added, reaching for the vodka to pour into her glass instead of the whiskey. As enigmatic as Natasha was, Sharon couldn't help but think she was also incredibly predictable.

Shaking her head, Maria laughed a bit at the two of them. "I think it's one of those things you can't understand until you meet your soulmate."

"Oh, I met my soulmate a long time ago."

Sharon and Maria both stared at Natasha with their mouths hanging open as the assassin plucked a cherry from the jar on the table and pulled it off the stem with her teeth, watching them innocently.

"What?" Maria said at the same time Sharon asked, "Who is it?"

Natasha smirked, but her eyes were far away as she said, "a man I thought I'd never see again. And then he tried to kill me several times."

Maria and Sharon exchanged a glance. What a life. Sharon may be skeptical about soulmates, but she did not envy Natasha's experience with it. It wasn’t that surprising that Natasha’s soulmate story involved mystery and attempted murder, though. Natasha’s whole life was like that. Seemed kind of fitting, actually.

"So there's really nothing between you and Barton, then?" Maria asked with a teasing smile. She knew Natasha hated that question, but it was still kind of serious. Everybody was always debating whether or not they were romantically involved.

When she came back to reality, Natasha smiled and said, "Really nothing. Never has been."

"Okay." Maria raised a hand in surrender and took a sip of her drink.

Natasha turned back to Sharon then. "So none of those company boys have caught your eye?"

Sharon let out a bitter laugh.

"Not in the slightest," she said and then sighed in frustration. "If I'm being honest, I wanted it to be Steve. I think I kind of had myself convinced it was going to be. And then when it wasn't, it took me a while to deal with it."

She hadn't admitted that to anyone before, not even to herself really. But she had had a bit too much to drink and if she couldn't be honest with Maria and Natasha, who could she be honest with?

"And that's why you got involved with Rumlow," Maria guessed.

"Fuck," Sharon swore and downed the contents of her glass again. "That asshole. Yeah, that's when I started sleeping with Rumlow."

She made a point to emphasize it had been mostly about sex. She didn't want it to seem any more serious than it was. No feelings were harmed in the making of that relationship. Sharon just had a tendency to jump into things a little too enthusiastically once she decided something. It could take her forever to make the decision, but once she did, there was no stopping her from pursuing it. In retrospect, she realized that Rumlow had taken advantage of that a little bit.

"Can't say I blame you," Natasha commented. "The man was sexy as hell."

"He was a good fuck, that's for sure," she agreed with a wicked glint in her eye, but her face dropped. "I should've noticed something was off though. I let my guard down too much with him."

"Nobody had any idea what was going on, Sharon," Maria insisted, covering her hand in a consoling manner. "You know it's not your fault."

Sharon shrugged. "Maybe not. I just...I feel like I could've done something. Something more than what I did. I wasn't even able to stop him from launching those helicarriers."

"You delayed him." Maria pushed the jar of cherries in her direction. "Gave us the time we needed to get in position."

"She's right," Natasha said firmly. "You could've hesitated, but you didn't. You trusted Cap. Who knows how many could've died if you hadn't."

"Which is part of the reason we're really hoping you'll come work with us here," Maria added, sitting up straighter and pushing aside her tipsy, relaxed face for her serious face.

This get together wasn't just about the three women catching up. That was part of it, but it was also a recruitment. They wanted her to leave the CIA and come work with the Avengers at the tower. Both of them had talked to her about it individually, so when they invited her to stay the weekend once the tower was fully operational again, she knew the real pitch was coming.

She wasn't sure how she felt about the idea. The CIA wasn't so bad and she had just begun to establish herself there. Some of the people were okay. She just had to learn who she could trust to have her back.

But she did like the idea of working with people she already knew and who she could trust completely. The main issue was being around Steve again. She had only just started to feel like she was over him, so the idea of being around him all the time again was kind of terrifying.

"I don't know," she finally said, looking up from where she'd been staring into her drink and shifted her gaze back and forth between the two women. "What would I be doing? I'm not an avenger, but I don't like the idea of being on the sidelines either. I'm a field agent."

"A fantastic field agent," Maria said. "And we want to take advantage of that. You'd be doing mostly recon and undercover work probably. Things that require stealth and the Avengers are too well known for. Even Barton and Romanoff have trouble getting around without being recognized these days."

Well, that didn't sound so bad. Not much different from what she had been doing before for SHIELD, actually. Working undercover had always been her specialty. She took another drink as she considered the idea, letting her gaze sweep around the large room.

"But I'd be based out of the tower?" She asked.

"We'd like you to be, but if you would prefer, we could set you up somewhere else nearby." Maria always switched to business so effortlessly. Sharon often wondered why the woman had never done much undercover work with the way she could switch directions and moods so quickly. But she also assumed that's what made Maria so good with interrogation.

"I like the idea, I'm not going to lie," Sharon responded after a moment. "But I need some time to think it over. Is that okay?"

"Of course," Natasha said. "It's pretty much a standing offer for if you ever decide you want it. Not a one-time thing."

Sharon smiled brightly at her. She really did care about these women so much. Working and living with them wouldn't be so bad. And even if she wasn’t still in love with Steve, she cared about him too. If she could keep her feelings in check, working with him would be great.

They transitioned back into normal talk then, now that the business side of things was done. Drinking and laughing had always been their non-work related specialties and they had fun. Sharon hadn't had that much fun since the last time they’d all been together, actually. And that was before the Battle of New York.

Eventually, they retreated to their rooms to sleep. Sharon had taken the whole weekend off and the bed in her guest room was particularly plush, so she was eager to put it to good use. It's amazing how well you can sleep when you're sleeping in a place where you don't constantly feel the need to watch your back. That was another sensation Sharon hadn't experienced in years.

She woke the next morning perfectly rested and relaxed. After her usual yoga session, she decided to go to the shooting range Natasha had insisted she needed to visit while she was there, taking her favorite Ruger with her.

On her way there, her mind drifted to the conversation about soulmates from the night before. It had been on her mind quite a bit lately, actually. She had never been one of those people desperately searching for their other half. Sharon felt whole in and of herself, and the idea of suddenly needing another person scared her.

The whole idea seemed kind of ludicrous. She didn't think she could ever just trust someone automatically. She had been trained to do the exact opposite. Being skeptical had kept her alive several times over. But just because the universe told her there was someone out there who was her other half, she was supposed to trust them? No questions asked? Didn't seem like the smartest move.

But that's what so many people did. Fate dropped this person in their lap so they trusted them completely.

Maria and Pepper were one thing. Even if they had never met before, they still had a good idea of each other by reputation and each knew the other was trustworthy. Having a soulmate you had no connection to outside of some arbitrary words on your body was a different story altogether.

That might be part of the reason she had wanted it to be Steve. Even before they met for the first time, she knew she could trust him. There was no question in her mind about that. Who else could she say that about? Especially now, after Rumlow. After finding out half of the SHIELD agents she had worked with were traitors. While the experience had proven that there were some people—like Natasha and Maria—that she could trust completely and totally, it also reminded her that anyone could be hiding something. Sharon would never again trust people as easily as she did before. And she hadn’t exactly been incredibly liberal with her trust in the first place.

When she got to the shooting range, she was surprised to see Barton with his bow on one end. It was just after 6am so she didn't really expect anyone else to be there. She returned his nod as she passed and noted that he didn't have his hearing aids in. Barton was another person she wouldn't mind working with again. She understood the way he worked and trusted him the way she trusted Natasha and Maria. He had proven that he could be trusted, to her and to other people who she trusted. Those layers were carefully stacked and it was a relationship they had built over many years in SHIELD together.

She knew it would take a long time before she was able to build similar relationships within the CIA. So it would make sense to come and work with them, right? Why start over when she didn’t have to? She was just stubborn. And once she started something, it was really hard to change her mind.

She was probably making this into a harder decision than she needed it to be.

She went to the far end of the range, stepping into one of the stalls, and played with the small computer screen for a minute. You could set a timer or choose a difficulty level, do standing or moving targets, and a whole bunch of other options. She was a kid in a candy store. God bless Tony Stark and his toys.

Once she decided on her settings, she got lost in the rhythm of her shots and the targets. The natural feeling of the gun casing in her hands. The kickback of the pistol that felt like it was jolting her awake every time. This is what she trusted. Not some supposed soulmate who said some particular sequence of words.

She wasn't sure how long she shot for, but she registered at one point that Barton's arrows stopped showing up in her peripheral. She assumed she was alone after that, so she had to force down a defensive reaction when she removed her headset and Barton's voice came from almost directly behind her, "I hope they convince you to stay. Your work was always fantastic."

She turned slowly, focusing on keeping her heartbeat steady and her breathing even. He was standing with his hands in his pockets, no bow or arrows in sight, his hearing aids in now. Haltingly, she said, "Is it possible that this is the first time we've ever spoken directly to each other?"

His whole body jerked in surprise, his eyes going wide and his mouth dropping open.

"Apparently so," he responded, taking a tentative step closer.

She held out her right hand so he could see the words written on the palm. He took this as permission to approach and gently took her hand in his, examining the words and running his thumb over them. "Seems strange," he said thoughtfully, "all those meetings we were in together. All those teams we worked on."

"Yeah," she said when he released her hand. "I never would've guessed."

Actually, now that she thought about it, they never really worked directly in conjunction with each other. It was more about passing information back and forth, being on the peripherals of each other’s missions. And she had always known Natasha better so she when it came to STRIKE Team Delta, Natasha was her contact. Still, that didn’t mean they didn’t know each other or that they hadn’t been around each other on a fairly regular basis. Was it really possible that they had never exchanged words before?

He lifted his shirt to reveal her precise, compact handwriting on the left side of his stomach just below his ribs. She reached out and slowly traced the letters of the first few words with her pointer finger. Her throat suddenly tightened but she pushed the building wave of tears back. She would not be one of those blubbering idiots who cried when they met their soulmate. She would not. She refused.

Dropping his shirt back into place, Barton's hand came up to wipe the wetness from her cheek and took a step closer.

"I don't really know what I'm doing here," he admitted, his other arm wrapping lightly around her waist, more in support than affection or anything of that sort. "But I guess that's something we can figure out together, if you want?"

Sharon's head was spinning. Everything she had thought and assumed about her soulmate and about meeting her soulmate had just been thrown out the window. She knew Barton. She trusted Barton. He wasn't some random on the street or some overly cocky CIA guy. It was Barton.

Or maybe she should start calling him Clint.

How could she not have known, though? How could she have been so close to him all this time and not have known it was him?

Was this fate? Not just the person, but the timing? The universe understanding where you needed to be in your life to accept the right person? She wanted to scoff. She wanted to blow it off as a fluke.

But there he was. Barton. Her soulmate. Clint. With his arm wrapped around her, waiting for her answer.

She lifted her hand and touched his cheek timidly before saying, "I think that might be good."

He smiled at her. A cute little grin that had her smiling in return. He pressed his lips to her forehead, then to her nose, then he pulled back, his gaze flicking to her lips and back to her eyes, asking for permission.

Without waiting for him, she pushed up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. She wanted to scoff at fate. But the way his lips moved on hers—soft and calm in comparison to her eager, insistent ones. The way his body tightened around her—making her feel safe and protected even though her guard was down. The way his skin felt under her hand that had his words on it—buzzing with electricity and potential. The way his hand cradled her head perfectly—as if he was meant to hold her. The way they understood each other's instincts and movements in the kiss—she wondered how well they would fight together, how well they would make love. And the way he seemed to know exactly when to gently push her back before she let herself go too far—the opposite of what Brock had done, and what Steve hadn’t known needed to be stopped.

Oh, she thought, so this is fate.

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed writing this. I loved the interaction between Maria, Natasha, and Sharon 'cause the MCU just does not have enough women in it.  
> I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to pursue this as a multi-chapter fic once I finish my WinterHawk multi-chapter, or leave it as a one shot. If I do, I'm thinking it would span the time between CA:TWS and AoU. So let me know if you'd like to read more of this story!  
> Hope you liked it and feedback is always appreciated.


End file.
